Protective
by BeebleZeeble
Summary: A point of contention between Jon and Thom arises during the events of The Woman Who Rides Like A Man.


"What about Jonathan, then? Everyone knows you two used to be lovers, even if he is a prig about other things. Maybe I should talk to him. Having sullied your reputation, he can't be allowed to abandon you. You have a good name-"

\- Thom, Lioness Rampant

* * *

A knock at his study door interrupted Jonathan's concentration. "Yes?" he called out, feeling irked.

Jonathan's most trusted manservant, Walter, entered the room and bowed to his prince. "The young Lord of Trebond is here, Your Highness. He says you've requested a meeting?"

_Oh, yes, how could he have forgotten?_ After the incident at the party, Jonathan had impressed upon Thom how important it was for them to meet privately.

"Right, well, give me a minute, then send him in please," Jonathan replied. Walter bowed again, and left, closing the door behind him.

Jon breathed through his nose, preparing himself to have to spend time alone with Thom. Sometimes it was hard to believe that pompous jackass could even be related to _her_, much less be the twin whom she loved so dearly. Why Alanna even put up with Thom in the first place, let alone worry over him, mystified Jon, but he refused to think too much on it as it required thinking about the verboten subject.

Walter's genteel knock came far too soon for Jon's taste.

"Come in," Jon called, trying for some gravitas.

Thom entered the study, bowing just the appropriate amount for greeting royalty and not an inch more. Jon sighed. Walter filed in after Thom, taking a post by the door.

"How might I serve you, my prince?" Thom asked, with exactly the amount of sarcasm he could safely get away with. The brash sorcerer was resplendent in gold trimmed silken robes, as flashy and decadent as he always was. By comparison Jon had slipped into an old shirt and breeches, valuing comfort over style.

"Thom, thank you for joining me. Can I offer you a drink?" Jon gestured to a pitcher filled with wine perched on his sidetable. Immediately Walter strode to the table, ready to pour.

"Why thank you, Your Highness, I would be glad for a glass," Thom said, almost jovially. The light tone was bizarre; until recently Thom had always seemed rather wary of Jon.

Walter had already poured Thom a goblet, and was busy readying Jon's, when Thom slid uninvited into one of the low chairs by the fireplace. Walter froze for a moment, apparently horrified by this breach of etiquette. Jon coughed slightly, and tipped his head towards his door. Walter immediately backed away and out of the room.

"Thom," Jon said, a dangerous glint in his sapphire eyes as he sat in the chair opposite, "We need to discuss what happened tonight."

Jon was referring, of course, to the incident at the party earlier. It was the first time he had openly courted the Princess Josiane. As they had danced, Jon had admired how dainty Josiane was, how delicate she could be as she moved gracefully across the room. Her long blonde hair was pinned behind her head in a tightly woven braid, and she was wearing a girlish shade of pink that looked magnificent on her. That pink would have probably clashed horribly on someone with, say, a more fiery coloring. When Jon gripped Josiane's waist he could feel only soft, feminine curves, and when he held her hand he felt no callouses. In effect, she was a perfect woman.

Jon had been thrilled to show Josiane off to his friends. Finally the opportunity arose for Jon to smoothly leave the dance floor, the lovely Josiane at his side. Naturally, Raoul was nowhere to be found. _Probably hiding under the refreshment table, the big turkey,_ Jon grumbled to himself. Jon at least spotted Gary, standing to the side of the dancing couples and chatting with someone. As Jon had approached, his stomach sunk when he suddenly caught sight of the vibrant copper colored hair of Gary's conversational companion. It was too late to change course now, so Jon persisted.

"Cousin!" he had called brightly to Gary, "How are you finding the party?"

Gary coughed slightly, seeming surprised by Jon's sudden entrance. "Er, wonderful _cousin_," Gary replied. He gestured outwards with his drink, "Bit larger than I expected."

That was Josiane's brilliant idea, she loved a good party and had talked Jon into making that event a grand affair.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jon had seen Thom smirking into his own drink. _Odd,_ thought Jon.

"Great, isn't it?" Jon enthused aloud. "Gary, have I formally introduced you to my guest? This is Princess Josiane, second daughter of the King of the Copper Islands. And Josiane, this is my cousin, Sir Gareth the Younger of Naxen." He grinned widely, eagerly anticipating Gary's jealousy. They had always been a bit competitive with women, and right now Jon was certain he had the most beautiful lady in the room on his arm.

Gary, to his credit, hid his jealousy rather well. He bowed politely to Josiane, then kissed her hand. "My pleasure," Gary said.

Thom then made a slightly choked sound into his drink. _The pretentious prick thinks we're ignoring him_, Jon thought._ Well fine, he's afforded an introduction._

"And of course, might I introduce Lord Thom of Trebond?" Thom fixed Josiane with an icy smile, and bowed slightly. Jon continued on, "Thom, have you met the Princess Josiane before?"

Thom glanced swiftly at Josiane, before his eyes settled back on Jon. "Perhaps, but then it's so hard to remember your childhood nightmares clearly," Thom replied dryly.

It had taken a beat for everyone to catch up. Gary's face flicked through a serious of emotions too fast to decipher and settled on one of deep concern, while Jon felt his own face bloom with heat. Josiane's smile wilted slightly, and her eyes glittered dangerously.

Before Jon could find his tongue, Thom cut back in, "My highness, my lady, forgive me, I must take my leave." He bowed jerkily, then swept away.

Jon had been enraged at the time, but he thought better of calling the man back to cause a scene. Cleary Thom wanted his attention, and so the young sorcerer would have it, _privately_.

Now back in his study, Jon confronted Thom.

"Your behavior was unacceptable, you were unforgivably rude to both my guest and I, let alone to members of royalty. Honestly Thom, if I weren't fond of you I wouldn't be bothering to warn you privately like this." This was perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but it was true enough that Jon wouldn't have been willing to be so discrete with a different lord.

"If you ever speak of a lady in that manner again I shall make you regret it," Jon's heart was thudding as he delivered his threat. There were things he could do to Thom, real actual bad things. He could levy a tax on Trebond for starters, and could strip it's young lord of his titles to finish. Thom had to know Jon wasn't to be toyed with.

Thom stared into his goblet, his lips tight as he considered his response. "My liege, I understand," Thom said gravely. "But, may I have permission to speak candidly, your highness?"

Jon chuckled dryly, "At least you're asking permission now. Go ahead." He reached for his own goblet, relieved that the difficult part was now over.

"Candidly your highness, you are not actually all that fond of me. You were, once, quite fond of my sister though, were you not?" Jon felt the color drain from his face. He had been doing such a good job of not thinking about that… that… _female_ in the desert.

"Thom," Jon started, completely unsure of what to say next. Luckily Thom didn't seem to care that his prince was speaking.

"In fact, you might say you were _carnally_ fond of my sister, yes?"

Jon slammed his goblet back down on the table. He felt himself turning red as he tried to choke out a response to this sudden departure from his expectations for this conversation.

"Come now Jon, there's no need to be shy, the whole palace talks of it," Thom leaned forward in his chair, all hints of jocularity gone from his face. "Everyone knows how my sister seduced you, did all manor of things for you in bed. You'd be surprised how descriptive even the most refined nobles can be on that point," Thom said with a snarl. Jon leaned back, unprepared for this. "They all know how you favored her, were manipulated by her into letting her have her shield. How she deceived you, using witchery and sexual wiles to trick you. And they know how you finally came to your senses and escaped her clutches in the desert. How now, at last, you've found yourself a 'true' woman, a real dignified lady."

Jon felt like he had been socked in the gut. "I've never, ever said anything, Thom, I would never-"

Thom cut him off again, slicing through Jon's hoarse words as smoothly as Alanna's sword did enemies. "Of course I know that's not what happened, Jon. And of course, some people just like to spread nasty rumors, you can't control that," Thom said evenly.

"No, I can't," Jon replied, having finally found some purchase. "Those rumors certainly don't paint me in a particularly kind light either, you know."

"Oh, sure," Thom replied, still far too sweet for Jon to feel safe. "As opposed to the truth of the matter."

"The truth?" Jon didn't want to ask, but Thom was clearly waiting for him to do so, and Jon had never in his life wanted something to be over as badly as he did this conversation.

"You were Alanna's prince and her knight master, the man she was to obey without question. And then you became lovers. Nothing off about that," Thom answered coldly.

Jon had a sinking feeling about where Thom was going with this. "Thom, Alanna and I-"

Thom didn't seem to hear. "You became lovers, and of course no one was worried about her reputation. I mean, I know Alanna wasn't, and why should you be? Men aren't taught to think about those things, are we? We're taught just take what we want, and enjoy it thoroughly until it no longer pleases us, and then we cast it aside and find a better toy." Thom's eyes hardened as he glared at Jon.

_Ah,_ thought Jon, _that's what this is._ "I wasn't toying with your sister," Jon said quietly. "Whatever you might think of me, I did truly care for Alanna."

Thom nodded, pursing his lips slightly in an exaggerated thinking gesture, "And of course that makes all the difference. I'm sure the rumors will desist now."

"Thom, what do you want me to do?" Jon groaned, feeling exasperated again. "Petty minds will say petty things, as they have since the dawn of time. She never paid them any thought, why should you?"

"Because she's my sister and I'm responsible for her," Thom snapped. "Because you've dragged her good name through the mud, cast her as some sort of whore, then took up with someone half the woman Alanna is, parading your little conquest around the whole court, rubbing my face in it. She who has started most of those rumors about Alanna herself! How dare you expect me to be courteous to that woman?" Thom was red in the face now, his resemblance to Alanna growing stronger in his fury.

Jon leaned back from Thom's anger, his breathing ragged. He wasn't completely clueless, he knew Josiane liked to gossip, but Jon couldn't quite reconcile that kind of pointless cruelty with the sweet, bubbly woman he had danced with all night. _How would Thom know, anyway?_ Jon thought to himself.

Looking into Thom's eyes, eyes so much like hers, Jon felt himself admit aloud that which he had told no one. "Alanna was the one that rejected me Thom," Jon said softly. "I asked her to marry me and she said no."

Thom leaned back now, mirroring Jon's posture. "Are you telling me my sister turned down the opportunity to be the _queen_?" Thom finally asked, squinting incredulously at Jon.

Jon felt a sharp bark of laughter escape him, "Yes, yes she did," he replied wearily.

"Of fucking course she did," Thom rolled his eyes. Jon waited, curious what Thom was going to say.

After a moment Thom looked back at Jon, and said, "I am sorry Jon. Alanna loved you, really she did, it can't have been easy for her to say no."

Jon flushed at Thom's sincerity. "Well, she managed it somehow." The statement didn't come out sounding as breezy as it had in Jon's mind.

The two men sipped their wine, silence hanging in the air between then. Finally Jon broke it, saying softly "Thom, you can't do that again. I can't and won't allow it." He sighed and said, "And you have to know Alanna would almost rather kill you before she that kind of attention drawn to our affair."

Thom grinned crookedly, "I could no more fear my own twin than I could my left arm."

"You might just be the bravest man in this kingdom then," Jon said with a tentative grin of his own.

Thom's smile flitted with sincerity before he pulled his face back into his usual deadpan. "I am willing to return to politely ignoring the princess if you are willing to let me," he said.

Jon nodded, feeling this may be the best he could hope for under the circumstances.

Thom knocked his wine back, then stood and bowed to Jon. Jon stood as well, and reached his hand out to shake Thom's as they both said their goodbyes.

Later that night Jon twisted in bed, struggling to sleep. In the morning he would tell Josiane his eye bags were from a restless night after drinking too much wine at the party, but as he stared up at the canopy of his bed he knew it would be a lie. He couldn't sleep because every time he closed his eyes all could see was violet fire and copper curls, his ears filled with her low voice. He imagined going to her, begging her to take him back, but the shame of it burned him.

He wanted so badly to be angry at her, but the truth was he still couldn't bring himself to stop loving her. Wherever Alanna was in the world right then, Jon hoped she was slumbering peacefully and contentedly.

* * *

AN: "Perhaps, but then it's so hard to remember your childhood nightmares clearly" is almost certainly a Louise quote from Bob's Burgers. I definitely didn't make up something that funny myself.


End file.
